“You always hear of the “delicate, sensitive artist.” I assure you that it takes the nerves of a bullfighter, the digestion of a peasant, the vitality of a night¬club hostess, the tact of a diplomat, and the concentration of a Tibetan monk to lead the strenuous life of a virtuoso.”
Quote from Jascha Heifetz – one of the greatest violinists of all time.

Personally I’d have to say that I agree with all of the above analogies. For far too long we classical musicians have had to deal with a stereotyped image of an awkward-looking creature that slightly resembles a human being, probably never gets to see much sunlight, and no doubt spends 10 hours a day poring over manuscripts of deceased giants. Honestly, it sounds more like a necromancer or vampire to me, but I’ll have you know that the only similarity classical musicians have with vampires is that we know how to dress well. (And perhaps also our aversion to direct UV-rays.)

OK so maybe there was a point where my predecessors were guilty of dressing up in scary looking costumes from another era in the style of Niccolo Paganini a.k.a. The Godfather of the Violin. He lived in the late 18th century and loved to dress up as like a ghoulish character in his concerts in order to convince people that he had traded his soul with the Devil for extreme skills on the violin. However he was also extremely popular with the ladies so no doubt they were as much impressed by his high fashion sense as with the wondrous prowess of his fingers.

Unfortunately, there are still people today who think dressing like a ghoul (or a clown for that matter – it’s a fine line sometimes) gets you attention and a career. Personally I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but honestly here’s where I think fashion and music have a very deep connection: